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COLD SHOWER FOR A "DEAD" SEASON
Leonid Martirosyan
Azat Artsakh Daily,
22 July 2010
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
On July 16-17, an informal summit of the OSCE member states' Foreign
Ministers took place in Almaty, within which a meeting of the Foreign
Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing
states was also held. No intensification of the negotiation process on
Nagorno Karabakh is likely to be expected in the nearest two months, as
a "dead" political season related to the traditional summer vacations
will start very soon. What a baggage will the settlement participants
take with them and what impulses have Armenia and Azerbaijan got from
the international mediators for the further search of ways for the
issue's resolution? The summit in Almaty gives partial answers to these
questions. We can state at once that the summit events on the Karabakh
settlement became a peculiar cold shower for Azerbaijan. Let's give
some clarifications. The informal forum of the OSCE member-states'
Foreign Ministers in Kazakhstan followed quite an active propaganda
campaign by the Azerbaijan party, which used the favourite instrument
of Azerbaijan's foreign policy - lie and blackmail. President Aliyev
and Foreign Minister Mamedyarov declared their determination to resolve
the conflict in a military way, they stated that the issue of returning
the Karvachar and Kashatagh regions would be allegedly discussed in
Almaty, and the return of the rest five regions had been allegedly
resolved and was out of any discussion. To fairly note, Armenia's
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian gave a corresponding rebuff to his
Azerbaijani colleague, calling his words on the territories' return an
absolute lie. But, the lie's disclosure hasn't properly impacted the
Azerbaijanis. Another matter is the statement of the Foreign Ministers
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states - Russia, France, and the
USA, which actually recommended Baku to refuse of its illusions,
which, surely, couldn't but cause a negative reaction. Within
the ministerial meeting, the delegations' heads - Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of France Bernard Kushner,
and Deputy US Secretary of State James Steinberg issued a joint
statement, the provisions of which had actually to cool the heat of
the Azerbaijan party. And though due to the traditions of the western
diplomats dealing with the conflict settlement process, no specific
names were noted, the addressee of the sounded warnings was obvious,
as the competent political and expert circles, as well as others are
exactly aware of those who rattle the saber and falsify the essence of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as a whole and the negotiation process
in particular. First of all, the statement's authors reminded once
again the three major principles, on which the conflict resolution
should be based - the nonuse of force or of threat of force, the
right to self-determination, and the territorial integrity. Which is
more important, they emphasized the inadmissibility of hierarchy of
the noted principles of the Helsinki Final Act, i.e. domination of
one principle over another, which is obviously done by Azerbaijan,
constantly underlining the primacy of the principle of territorial
integrity over the right to self-determination. So was on July 6,
at the presentation of the so-called "Central Headquarters" of the
so-called Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh. Speaking of the
Helsinki principles, Ilham Aliyev stated without a moment's hesitation,
"The basic principle here is the territorial integrity.
There is also a principle of nations' self-determination. But, this
principle should not harm the territorial integrity of nations or
contradict it". This is the legal incompetence of the Moscow State
Institute of International Relations' graduate, his legal selectivity,
and to be more exact, legal ilHAMNESS (RUDENESS). Actually,
the Azerbaijani President was taught a lesson of elementary legal
literacy in Almaty. But, it is a great question whether the lesson
will be of any use, as the Azerbaijani leader is also famous for his
legal nihilism. And the most important. In the former capital city
of Kazakhstan, the inadmissibility of any force actions or inciting
statements, which could destabilize the situation in the region,
was clearly noted. The addressee of this message is also obvious. In
other words, Azerbaijan was notified that it wouldn't be allowed to
aggravate the situation, and it was called upon to take corresponding
measures for maintaining the cease-fire regime. The Foreign Ministers
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states finished the summit in
Almaty with similar advices to the conflicting parties, actually,
having outlined the political-legal field, in which the settlement
process participants can "break a lance". The struggle's means are
also determined - they are diplomatic, excluding any war rhetoric,
and all the more - military activities. We'll see in the nearest time
what the Azerbaijanis' response will be, whether they will consider the
mediators' recommendations or still wider - listen to reason. Though,
judging by the recent publications in the Azerbaijani press, anything
will hardly change in the position of official Baku. The latter is
rather a diagnosis.
From: A. Papazian
Leonid Martirosyan
Azat Artsakh Daily,
22 July 2010
Republic of Nagorno Karabakh [NKR]
On July 16-17, an informal summit of the OSCE member states' Foreign
Ministers took place in Almaty, within which a meeting of the Foreign
Ministers of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing
states was also held. No intensification of the negotiation process on
Nagorno Karabakh is likely to be expected in the nearest two months, as
a "dead" political season related to the traditional summer vacations
will start very soon. What a baggage will the settlement participants
take with them and what impulses have Armenia and Azerbaijan got from
the international mediators for the further search of ways for the
issue's resolution? The summit in Almaty gives partial answers to these
questions. We can state at once that the summit events on the Karabakh
settlement became a peculiar cold shower for Azerbaijan. Let's give
some clarifications. The informal forum of the OSCE member-states'
Foreign Ministers in Kazakhstan followed quite an active propaganda
campaign by the Azerbaijan party, which used the favourite instrument
of Azerbaijan's foreign policy - lie and blackmail. President Aliyev
and Foreign Minister Mamedyarov declared their determination to resolve
the conflict in a military way, they stated that the issue of returning
the Karvachar and Kashatagh regions would be allegedly discussed in
Almaty, and the return of the rest five regions had been allegedly
resolved and was out of any discussion. To fairly note, Armenia's
Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian gave a corresponding rebuff to his
Azerbaijani colleague, calling his words on the territories' return an
absolute lie. But, the lie's disclosure hasn't properly impacted the
Azerbaijanis. Another matter is the statement of the Foreign Ministers
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states - Russia, France, and the
USA, which actually recommended Baku to refuse of its illusions,
which, surely, couldn't but cause a negative reaction. Within
the ministerial meeting, the delegations' heads - Russian Foreign
Minister Sergey Lavrov, Foreign Minister of France Bernard Kushner,
and Deputy US Secretary of State James Steinberg issued a joint
statement, the provisions of which had actually to cool the heat of
the Azerbaijan party. And though due to the traditions of the western
diplomats dealing with the conflict settlement process, no specific
names were noted, the addressee of the sounded warnings was obvious,
as the competent political and expert circles, as well as others are
exactly aware of those who rattle the saber and falsify the essence of
the Nagorno Karabakh conflict as a whole and the negotiation process
in particular. First of all, the statement's authors reminded once
again the three major principles, on which the conflict resolution
should be based - the nonuse of force or of threat of force, the
right to self-determination, and the territorial integrity. Which is
more important, they emphasized the inadmissibility of hierarchy of
the noted principles of the Helsinki Final Act, i.e. domination of
one principle over another, which is obviously done by Azerbaijan,
constantly underlining the primacy of the principle of territorial
integrity over the right to self-determination. So was on July 6,
at the presentation of the so-called "Central Headquarters" of the
so-called Azerbaijani community of Nagorno Karabakh. Speaking of the
Helsinki principles, Ilham Aliyev stated without a moment's hesitation,
"The basic principle here is the territorial integrity.
There is also a principle of nations' self-determination. But, this
principle should not harm the territorial integrity of nations or
contradict it". This is the legal incompetence of the Moscow State
Institute of International Relations' graduate, his legal selectivity,
and to be more exact, legal ilHAMNESS (RUDENESS). Actually,
the Azerbaijani President was taught a lesson of elementary legal
literacy in Almaty. But, it is a great question whether the lesson
will be of any use, as the Azerbaijani leader is also famous for his
legal nihilism. And the most important. In the former capital city
of Kazakhstan, the inadmissibility of any force actions or inciting
statements, which could destabilize the situation in the region,
was clearly noted. The addressee of this message is also obvious. In
other words, Azerbaijan was notified that it wouldn't be allowed to
aggravate the situation, and it was called upon to take corresponding
measures for maintaining the cease-fire regime. The Foreign Ministers
of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairing states finished the summit in
Almaty with similar advices to the conflicting parties, actually,
having outlined the political-legal field, in which the settlement
process participants can "break a lance". The struggle's means are
also determined - they are diplomatic, excluding any war rhetoric,
and all the more - military activities. We'll see in the nearest time
what the Azerbaijanis' response will be, whether they will consider the
mediators' recommendations or still wider - listen to reason. Though,
judging by the recent publications in the Azerbaijani press, anything
will hardly change in the position of official Baku. The latter is
rather a diagnosis.
From: A. Papazian